T'puram: Working in Technopark, paid peanuts

Thiruvananthapuram: Its peanuts for some employees in Technopark. We are not talking about techies, but the security men who guard the park. According to a group of security men in Technopark, the security agencies are not paying them minimum wages. They allege that they are being denied salaried off days and are being forced to take leave.

It's peanuts for some employees in Technopark. It's not the techies, but the security men who guard the park.

The duty days are less than 26 days per month now, so they pay us less salary. We are forced to take leave, said a security man on condition of anonymity. We get Rs 26 per hour for normal duty time and Rs 30 per hour for overtime work. As per the wage declared by the security agencies four months ago, we are eligible for a minimum Rs 9,800 per month. But they deny us that, he said.Technopark has around 180 security men supplied by three security agencies - Private Eye, Delta and Ex-Servicemen. All the three private agencies are paying around Rs 6,200 per month. Minimum salary is around Rs 6,100 for eight hours work. But these security men work for almost 12 hours.Meanwhile, Technopark authorities denied the allegation, terming it as petty politics. Abhilash D S, officer, HR Admin, Technopark, said the park authorities have been paying Rs 48 per hour since 2010. However, manager of security agency Private Eye R Sudhakaran said that they pay Rs 6,241 a month. We pay Rs 6,241 for 26 working days and 4 days off. Now they demand salary for 30 days and additional four days, which is not acceptable, Sudhakaran said.Meanwhile, the security men said that they were not getting support from their unions too.